Royal Navy Ship HMS Dragon Could Receive Freedom of Wrexham Honor

A ROYAL Navy ship could be honoured with the Freedom of the County Borough of Wrexham at a meeting this week.
HMS Dragon became the first warship to be affiliated with Wrexham since World War Two following a ceremony held in Portsmouth in April.
The award for the Type 45 air defence destroyer is set to be discussed by Wrexham’s full council at a meeting at the city’s Guildhall tomorrow (Wednesday, 25 September).
The top civic honour was most recently given to Wrexham AFC owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in December 2022 in recognition of their work to promote the area.
Beverley Parry-Jones, the local authority’s armed forces champion, said the aim of the proposed award for the ship was to pay tribute to the Royal Navy’s contribution to Wrexham.
The Conservative councillor said in a report: “Affiliations between warships and local communities are a time-honoured tradition, with the connections serving as symbols of unity and mutual support.
“All major Royal Navy ships have affiliations as part of a long-standing custom that binds their crews to the land via a network of relationships which spread across the United Kingdom.
“It is the first time since the Second World War that a Royal Navy warship will be affiliated to Wrexham.
“The council are asked to consider granting the honorary Freedom of the County Borough to HMS Dragon to formally recognise the Royal Navy’s contribution to the county borough, their relationship with the people of Wrexham and to acknowledge the honour of the affiliation of HMS Dragon to Wrexham.”
HMS Dragon is currently undergoing a refit in Portsmouth, including upgrades to its engines, sensors and weapon systems, with trials of its performance expected in the coming months.
The vessel has more than 200 crew members and its main purpose is to defend other ships using an anti-air missile system.
The ship was previously affiliated with Cardiff but this was taken over by Wrexham earlier this year due to the creation of a new Type 26 frigate named HMS Cardiff.
HMS Dragon is the fourth ship to be associated with Wrexham after the HMS Veteran, HMS Begonia and HMS Anemone were adopted during World War Two.
A formal ceremony will be arranged to confer the honour upon the Royal Navy at a later date if the proposal is accepted at Wednesday’s meeting. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

By BBC LDRS ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​